Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Braves did not offer Jurrjens and Prado to the Orioles

The Braves expressed interest in Adam Jones. But they did not offer Martin Prado and Jair Jurrjens to the Orioles in exchange for the outfielder.

A source with knowledge of the Orioles negotiations disputed a Baltimore Sun report that indicated the Braves were rejected when they offered Prado, Jurrjens and a pitching prospect for Jones.

The source said the Braves were told Jones was unavailable when they asked about him a couple weeks ago. The Orioles later called the Braves to see if they would trade Prado, Jurrjens and two other “premium guys” in exchange for Jones.

The Braves said they were not interested and the two clubs have not had any recent discussions about these players.

Nice try Braves. Frank Wren, wanna have a chat with White Sox for Carlos Quaton. Or talk to Toronto about getting Jose Batista or Adam Lind. Yunell Escobar could reunite for SS. Or reunion with Omar Infante. I wanna see a slug fest in Atlanta!

I saw that the O’s want a package both of either Beachy Viz Delgado Minor or Teheran and the Braves balked at the idea of giving up any of the young guns. Now I would offer Medlen Hoover Lipka and Prado for Jones and Reynolds. or I would send that same package to the Yankees put take Lipka out and add Bourne and ask for Swisher Gardner Austin Romine and Nunez.

Right now, the best move is to hope JJ has another great first half and trade him while his stock is at it’s high point before the trade deadline in 2012. The Braves could get way more in return for him then than now. Let him have a great first half, trade him for a king’s ransom, and let his knees give out / allow Boras to hose over another team that’s desperate enough for him… because either one of those things will happen to the Braves if they keep him.

Well there wasn’t much of a problem in Houston to get Bourn, when Wren traded Jordan “Genius” Schafer and 3 prospects of which only one of them was top 20 in the Braves organization (Oberholtzer #18). I didn’t know this but Schafer’s career SLG is actually LOWER than his OBP, which is a remarkable .311!

I hear congrats are in order for Jurrjens. Jair and Kaylin Reque (Miss Georgia USA 2011) announced their engagement yesterday. Happy to hear it! JJ and Kaylin are one of the coolest (nicest) couples in the ATL!

Maybe Wren needs to call it quits and bring in someone with some cojones and make that big deal and not be afraid of giving up too much for something. I mean trading for Jones for Prado and Jair is too much but why not ask for another player in return like Jones and Robert Andino.

Umm, because Jones is barely worth one of them, let alone both and 2 prospects. Why does everyone thing Adam Jones is good? A career .319 OBP mixed with generally less than stellar defense(don’t let that Gold Glove fool you[I honestly think Nate McLouth has better range]), only average speed, and 20ish homer pop. Good player, not a superstar. Not an upgrade in getting on base, the major flaw in last years team. And why should we acquire another center fielder this year? Michael Bourn should not be counted out yet, the Braves have a bit of money next year and haven’t had a leadoff man since Rafael Furcal and haven’t had a center fielder since Andruw. They know what Bourn can bring to the table, and they can hopefully extend him.

Some add’l facts. Over the last 3 years MB has 174 SB, Reyes-80 SB, OBP is almost identical and Reyes has been injury prone. MB is a year older but Reyes has been playing MLB for 3 years longer already(big deal for someone who makes their living with their legs) What you don’t get , young one, is that SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO OVERPAY!!!!! To them it’s not overpaying, it’s called acquiring talent at the going rate.That’s why they win pennants most of the time.Even the small market Cards outspent us for the last 2 years. We don’t get the BC discount anymore we certainly don’t have a hometown advantage(especially with MB), most of the time. You’re dreaming of sugarplums if you think we are gonna extend Bourn.

Lots of money = championship? Now you’re thinking like a phan. Jose Reyes also won a batting title, has better career power numbers(slugged almost .500 last year), and has more “star power” and is more “proven” than Bourn. It shouldn’t be to anyone’s surprise that a star studded shortstop got overpaid, but the fact is, $106MM was overpay, and considering a lot of contracts, that’s still not a lot. No one will overpay for Bourn when they could overpay for Shane Victorino, B.J. Upton, Grady Sizemore, or possibly Curtis Granderson(all who are more proven and complete players). Bourn’s best asset is speed, second is defense. A comparable player is Juan Pierre, who got a 5 year/$44MM contract 5 years ago, and was a bench player by year 3. Another comparable player(baseball-reference); Willy Taveras. Ouch.

Well if you used some context clues, used an equation composed of more than the Scott Boras variable, adjust for inflation, and use common sense, you’ll still see that Bourn will fall short of your ludicrous 8 year/$100MM contract or whatever it was you predicted. Your argument is based solely on suspicion and ignorance, not any logic or comparisons. You have shown time and time again you have little to any knowledge of how the business side of baseball works, and are about as informed in the area as Pherris is in calculating on base percentage. Bourn is not and will never be a $100MM player, unless he juices his way to 30 homers this year to go with that speed and defense.

I’m equally as tired of hearing you adding nothing of importance to any discussion ever. Your comments are like rolling a die; you either get a very bad and childish insult(usually including an oh so clever nickname), a Brooks Conrad for President speech, bitching about Frank Wren(like we don’t know how bad he is already), a love letter to Martin Prado, a lame diatribe that can be easily summarized as “back in my day, when people Jason Heyward’s grandfather worked on my farm..”, or attempting to remind us that Nate McLouth sucked. I’m glad you found the internet in your old age, but dude, lighten up and quit making an ass out of yourself all the time. Chipper exceeded 300 at bats, McLouth got a major league deal, Brooks Conrad is unemployed, etc. You know we all love to hate you Bill, you just need to change up the routine. And stop with the personal attacks since you’re in no way familiar with any of us outside of this digital veil.

Lets stop all this trade Prado BS. Trading him is only hurt the team this season not help. Prado has more value to the Braves than he does to any other team. The only way he should get traded is if someone over pays for him.

Remember as the off season comes to an end, the problem is not Prado, it is a team that has to rely on Prado as “the Man”. I have said this multiple times in the past, but it bears repeating. The Braves counted on McCann and Chipper for the biggest part of their production numbers again, i.e., hit them 3 and 4, 3 and 5, etc. It is impossible for players that miss 25% or more of the season, every season, to carry the offensive production. McCann is jelly-legged by the end of August, Chipper is either injured or slapping the ball by the same time. Uggla and Heyward struggled, and Prado was all that was left. When Uggla finally got comfortable, the Braves took off. Bottom line, the guys that are expected to carry the load offensively need to play 150 or more games. If they don’t a team that is not deep will struggle. When Mac and Chipper are expected to contribute rather than carry the Braves, this will be a playoff caliber team. Uggla will have a productive season. Heyward will be either very productive or in AAA. Mac will be as good as he always is.

Its pretty obvious bill’s reason for being on these comments is to argue with people. I was not on this blog for a few months after the season (and at the end of it) and bill just picked a few new people to fight constantly with. Evidence can even be found in the comments above. He gets his kicks from trolling on the internet. I just ignore him.

I think the braves need someone who will play everyday like rother says and will contribute AVERAGE to this team. We need someone who hits .300

Orioles Jays Rockies and Tigers are interested in Jair. Okay lets look at the Tigers, so I guess the Tigers want J.J back so only fit i can see him in a trade is maybe packaging Prado along with him for Peralta and Ryan Rayburn. Now lets take a look at the Blue Jays and of course him names pops up and that is Colby Rasmus.

jurrjiens to redsox or rockies for prospects if they send jurrjiens to the redsox they would get mike aviles a utility infielder and some outfield prospects try to get brentz a outfielder with all types of power. if to the rockies try to get seth smith and nolan arenado a really good third base prospect to come in after chipper retires then sign the free agent infeilder they need with saving money getting jurrjiens gone.i like seth smith in leftfield and prado at third when chipper gets hurt. do not trade prado.maybe at allstar break but definitely not right now…….when will the braves ever get a back up ss/2b thats what they need the most. they have some more good ss prospects in the minors.but thats 2 years away. they dont even have a backup ss or second baseman as of right now. i cant believe they dont even have enough money to get a utilty infielder out of free agency.man its not looking good for the braves this year.

the thing with the braves is they have so many good prospects or rookies last year that they have to give raises this year and the money isnt there to sign anyone. the one they missed out on was willie bloomquist he can play anyway. but the money issue is going to set them back at least till 2013. when these young guys mature enough and chipper retires hes making 12 or 15 million for half a year thats killing the braves. thats 3 good players they cant get. and for all this bourn wont be resigned is crap when chippers gone they can easily sign bourn. 5 years 50 million would be great for the braves i hope thats the case to sign him for that. thats fair for everyone.

ok think about it the braves need a backup ss right. how about orlando cabrera. last year was the only year since like 1999 that he didnt hit over 300 and last year he signed for only 1 million to play with the indians. and hes never really had an injury problem. and he can also play secondbase.i think its a great idea hes better than ronny cedeno who costs more. and all the braves have at backup shortstop is drew sutton and josh wilson.they might be going with that.drew sutton.

How is Chipper’s contract killing the Braves? He was a 2.8 WAR player last year in only 126 games. For comparison, Freddie Freeman was a 1.1 WAR player in 157 games. Prado was worth a 3.0 WAR in the 140 games of 2010, his best season. Simple fact is that Chipper in every game he plays is more valuable than any alternative that we have or could have had. And those games make up for the ones that he misses, especially if we retain Prado. It’s fucking retarded to keep reading how everyone wants Chipper and his contract gone so we can sign a more expensive and shittier player. 2 years and 6.0 WAR later and I still have to defend the same position.

Can WAR calculate how gimpy Chipper is when he goes into the field, when he limps to the plate or when he dodges every decent pitcher in the NL? WAR is the worst crapstat that exists. Predicts nothing, misses obvious benefits and diminishes obvious failings. WAR is to baseball as oranges are to strippers, doesn’t mean squat.

Chipper is fine but he obviously isnt worth 12-15m for this coming year. SO if we had the choice then we would of had him retire obviously. When he plays chipper is still very very good. Unfortunatly I suspect he wont play that much this year. His body is 1 year older and I think 100 games is realistic. Having your highest paid guy miss 1/3-1/2 the season is really not good for this line up. SUre we probably will find it hard to get another guy who hits .300/30hr/100rbi every single season like chipper did for years, but thats just a sad fact of being a brave now as the budget seems to get left behind other clubs. Maybe freddie can produce chipper like numbers over the next 5-10 years??

So you don’t believe in WAR. How about his line: .275 / .344 / .470. 33 2B, 18 HR, 70 RBI. .337 / .402 / .485 with RISP. Chipper was pretty decent in the field, committing only 6 errors in 177 attempts. His range stats are obviously down, but not much from the previous few seasons.

The Braves went 8-18 in September. I guess we should just leave everything like it was since we are performing so well. I wonder what WAR thinks about that? Chipper is a Prima Donna who only puts himself in the lineup against weak pitching. Got a stat for that?

Nah, cause it just isn’t the truth. Chipper played in every one of those September games with a not great but modest .269 / .330 / .473 line. In Sept you could compare that line to McCann’s: .200/.320/.306. But he probably rushed himself back into the lineup and wasn’t 100%. So compare to Freeman: .226/.305/.366. Or Prado: .236/.257/.327. Bourn: .271/.315/.364. I could go on but you probably see where I’m going with this. The weak parts of the team that warranted a change were LF, SS, and Derek Lowe. No one here seems to want Prado gone, so nix LF from the equation. Because of a lack of funds and no realistic options, we have Pastornicky at SS. We lose a bit on defense but should gain a lot in OBP at the bottom of the order. Any one of Minor/Teheran/Delgado is a big upgrade over Lowe. Addition by subtraction. Pitching staff is very strong top to bottom with the exception of an additional right handed 7/8 inning guy whose name isn’t Medlen. I think adding Lidge would be a huge plus. Andruw (he kills lhp) would’ve been a good piece in LF to share time w Prado while cutting ties w Diaz. But alas he went to the Yanks.

Prima donna is a term to describe “a vain, undisciplined, egotistical, obnoxious or temperamental person.” I don’t really see how that applies to Chipper Jones, with maybe the exception of vain but I think it might be warranted by being the greatest switch hitter in the history of the game. Could you be just inventing this false persona of Chipper in your mind to have something to be angry about? The collapse was an awful thing to watch, but the numbers do show that Chipper was not the culprit while many others were. Ironically enough, the other goats of the team–Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla–gave the only other acceptable offensive performances in the final month of the season.

the fact is that chipper is good but hes good that good sitting on the bench with whatever injury he has that week. the thing he does the best is be in the lineup so pitchers give the batters in front of him better pitches to hit.but look at the lineup without chipper.
bourn
prado
mccann
uggla
freeman
diaz
heyward
pastornicky
pitcher
not to great. they need two more guys a backup leftfielder and a backup ss/2b and they braves will be just fine.

i liked trading jurrjiens to the redsox for mike aviles, josh reddick, and a prospect. but with josh reddick traded to the A’s that isnt happening now. just face the facts the braves would love to get a good hitting leftfielder for when chipper is out or if heyward struggles they could play right. but for whatever reason the braves have a lot of confidence in matt diaz but im not to sure of that.i think once the braves finally get their backup ss/2b figured out. the nailing of wren would stop. diaz to play left and prado to play third isnt that horrible but not having a backup at ss or 2b isnt something that sits good with me. ronny cedeno i dont know.its a bad year to not have free agent ss to sign.i like orlando cabrera the best over ronny cedeno

i mean ronny cedeno isnt that much of an upgrade to drew sutton or josh wilson, i think drew sutton is probably better. sutton and wilson are non roster invitees to spring training trying to get jobs on the team. drew sutton just might make the team.but to say drew sutton is our starting ss doesnt sound that awesome.

Since it sounds like there has been some discussion with Baltimore, why not take a look at Nolan Reimold. He is cheaper, and will cost less in prospects than Adam Jones. Seems to fit a little better than Jones, as he has shown the ability to take walks. Also has some pop, and can hit lefties decent. Yes, Jones can play CF in 2013 in the event that Bourn leaves, but he just doesn’t make sense for this team. Wren is looking to deal JJ or Prado for not just prospects/impact players, but financial flexibility, and replacing JJ’s salary with Jones’ similar salary doesn’t accomplish anything. Also, Jones has shown a severe reverse split, with a career OPS of .673 against LHP. As if the Braves need another player who cant hit lefties or take walks (4.8% career walk rate)(!)

I suggest JJ for Reimold and 1-2 top prospects. That plus a trade of Prado to Colorado involving Blackmon/Wheeler and definitely not Smith, and our outfield is set for a while.

And who will back up Chipper and Uggla? Braves in house options are no where close to being better than Prado. If there is one player that I have more faith in bouncing back this season than anyone else it’s Prado and selling low on him is foolish. If Braves knew that Chipper could be counted on starting 150 games plus it would be a different story.

And depending which artical you read Braves have somewhere between 5-10 mil. of spending room right now counting expected raises and arbitration.

Probably a Theriot/Cedeno type of player. Maybe someone who can also play SS, and isn’t a black hole in the batting order when he is starting. That isn’t a huge concern, as we could probably wait till the end of ST to find someone, without missing a beat. Look, I’d rather hold onto Prado too, but it looks like the reported 5-10 million the Braves have to spend isn’t enough, and they would like to dump JJ and/or Prado for some more flexibility. And if some teams want Prado bad enough to give us a LF thumper (not that I know where all these RH, LF thumpers are that Wren wants so much), or an uber 3B or OF prospect (Wil Myers comes to mind), then we should do it.

Stephen Marek signs with Blue Jays. I know lots of grief was given to Schuerholz for the initial Mark Texieria acquisition, but Wren’s trade to the Angels was completely awful. I would have rather offered arbitration and gotten the draft picks. Now we have absolutely nothing to show for the trade.

Trading Prado or JJ wouldn’t be a salary dump. It’s the simple fact that we shouldn’t pay about $5 million to a pitcher when we have 2 in AAA–plus Medlen–who could do the job just as well or better for league minimum. We also don’t have anyone who could play CF in 2013 if Bourn walks. It’s the simple economics and strategy for a team that doesn’t have a $200 million payroll. For the definition of “salary dump” see: 98, 04 Florida Marlins, Derek Lowe.

You’re right, it’s not a true salary dump in the sense that we get nothing in return, ala Derek Lowe. But when you also consider JJ’s and Prado’s 2013 arbitration increases, there would be a good amount of salary being “dumped” in a trade of either one. Heck, with those 2, Chipper, Lowe, and Diaz coming off the books in 2013, we might be able to actually sign a FA.

Chipper won’t necessarily be off the books next year. He has a $9 million player option for 2013 if he plays 123 games this season. If he has a good year I’m gonna be stoked to see him in ’13. If only to piss off the irrational Chipper haters.

I don’t think there is anyone available for a good enough return on JJ right now. I’m hoping they sit tight on him. Let him have another good first half and then trade him when his stock is higher and a team is desperate for pitching. We would get a much better return on him then than now. As far as Prado, with Chipper only playing 100+ games, we need him on the roster. I don’t see a big move happening. Hopefully Heyward learns how to hit again and becomes that big outfield bat we need.

I’d trade Hanson, he is gonna be a big injury risk going forward because of his delivery. JJ can go too, since we are so intent on saving cash.We have so much young pitching talent(largely wasted) we might as well capitalize. We don’t draft position players so we need to trade for them. Either that or change this ridiculous, only draft pitchers, mentality. It is stupid.
As to my boils, the tiny infection that call himself vivabeta, could be lanced and treated with a mild antibiotic.

I would say that if Heyward becomes in 2012 who he is supposed to be, that the Braves would be able to move a pitcher like JJ or Hanson in July. However, at that point, Prado would not be an option unless there was an emergence of a legit stick for LF and a guy who can play 3B 25% of the remaining games through the end of the regular season. Keeping Chipper’s legs under him through August and September is also a key to October baseball, same with McCann. Maybe we get lucky and Pastornicky hits the ground running, and Simmons tears it up in AAA to the point he can handle SS. His glove is considered exceptional and we could carry the limited offense if Pastornicky proves as solid as everyone in the organization hopes. We just can’t justify running out slap hitters at 3B, LF, SS, and CF on a consistent basis, unless we are planning on running like the Rays do, which I don’t see happening.

Has anybody every seen Ernesto Meijia even shagging flies? If only he could at least catch what was hit right at him in left, he can really swing the bat. Many less holes in the swing than Gartrell has and very similar power.

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